OUR DEFENDERS

Observer, Volume XXVII, Issue 39, 15 June 1907, Page 11

OUR DEFENDERS

By Lee-Enfibld.

rHE gaze of the members of the :• Defence Council has lately been foeussed upon Captain Bos.vorthj who, since the termination of ■Jhe Boer War, has been at the head >f the local field artillery, and the gallant captain has been asked to fill another and more important niche in the military world. Consequently many changes are ahead of the "A " Battery. Captain Bosworth's appointment Under the new scheme ■will take immediate effect, and the ensuing election will probably place Lieutenant Sherson in the captaincy. Colonel Davies will visit Auckland" in his official capacity of AdjutantGen, in a day or so. It is understood that the Colonel will make a thorough round of inspection, and with his energetic personality, stir the troops up to fresh activity. The result of the marksmen's medal competition is not yet available, but it is expected that the District medal will go to G. Monk, of the Victoria Rifles. Monk compiled a score of 51 points in this contest, and Cox, Carlson and Farley, of the same corns, were one point behind. The Government allow a gold medal to the best and a gold and silver one to the second best in each island, and a silver medal to the highest scorer in each district. Captain Stevenson, who for the last two years or so has controlled the affairs of the youngest of our Native companies, is incapacitated through illness, and it is feared that it will be some time before the genial commander is on his feet again. Meanwhile, the company is in the capable hands of Lieutenant Kretschmar, who is enthusiastically devoted to all things military. Kretschmar worked his way up from the ranks in the Victoria Rifles, being a hard-working and efficient non-com, in the senior infantry corns. He subseauently transferred to Gisborne, and there captained one of the smartest cadet corps in the island. He has proved an energetic and capable lieutenant in the No. 3 Natives, his wide knowledge of shooting matters beine; especially useful to the company. By the way, it is not generally known that Lieut. Kretsohmar joined the ranks of the benedicts last week. The views of some of our budding strategists concerning such base considerations as camp surpluses are quite diverting in their way. One martial warrior has earnestly proclaimed that every penny of his next camp allowance will find a haven in the tummies of his men —to which, presumably, the men will have no objection. The wherefore of this thusness is a dead secret —-wild horses could not drag it out. The Mounted Regiments of the district and the Infantry Battalion have been awarded " honours " by. the King for their contributions of men during the South African War. This entitles the battalions to em-' • broider "South Africa" on their colours. The British war lords seem to have stumbled upon a splendid stroke of business for Great Britain's shipbuilders when they turned out. the Dreadnought, and a veritable boom in the new type of battleship is set-' ting in. Brazil and the Argentine are pouring eight millions, into British coffers, and Chili will soon greatly augment the sum, all the money being expended upon warships of the Dreadnought, i^pe. Wide-awake Japan is also on ' the warpath, and the Japs are placing with a British" firm a,contract , for. the construction; of the largest battleship in the. world. \ The vessel will have a displaceiimt ofv~2l;000 tons, and will cost about £2i250,00Q. ■

Miss Tittell Brune, whose engagement with J. 0. Williamson terminates in a few weeks, has abandoned her intention to recruit in India and the Far East, and planned in its stead a six months' rest in the Mediterranean countries, with a detour to Vienna.

Madame Blanche Arral hit a Wanganui musical critic very hard. Listen to one little sentence out of his rhapsody : " Imagine the melody of a rich-throated canary made vocal and endowed with the power of soulful and intelligible expression,- and even then your conception will be dwarfed by the reality." Marvellous.

Rickards's biggest vaudeville draw in Sydney just now is a troupe of a dozen cats, trained by one Techow, whose name, by the way, suggests either a sneeze or an Oriental. One old Tom is described as a practical joker on four legs, and the rest are acrobats, equilibrists, wire-walkers, climbers, net-divers, and in some sort humourists.